Terry Gross

Film critic Bill Van Wert joins the show for a review of the film "The Stunt Man."

Jerre Mangione is an author and the director of Creative Writing at the University of Pennsylvania. His newest book is "An Ethnic at Large: A Memoir of America in the Thirties and Forties." He's currently writing a book about Italian-Americans. He joins the show to discuss the recent enforcement of an IRS regulation that requires that publishers destroy or remainder their back-stock in order to take certain deductions. Mangione's book "The Dream and the Deal" nearly faced that fate.

Terry Robinson was a physical trainer to the stars, working at MGM. He was Mario Lanza's trainer and close friend. He has recently written a biography of the tenor "Lanza, His Tragic Life."

Writer Josef Skvorecky joins the show to describe his fiction, jazz, and growing up in Czechoslovakia.

Jan and Stan Berenstain are the creators of the "Berenstain Bears" and the writers and illustrators of the children's books about the bear family. They have been creating animated holiday specials about the Berenstains for NBC, including an upcoming Thanksgiving special. Their most recent Berenstain Bears book, "Bears Christmas Tree," is an adaptation of their animated Christmas special. They have also written a new book geared towards parents, "How to Teach Your Children About Sex Without Making a Fool of Yourself."

Activist Dick Gregory recently gave a speech for the Ford Hall Forum that was recorded by NPR. Today, Fresh Air will play an excerpt of that speech, on the subject "Are Minorities Really Powerless?" The topics addressed in the excerpt are the 1980 presidential election, Gregory's distaste for the concept of "voting for the lessor of two evils," and the "choicelessness" the common voter feels. The speech was given prior to the election.

Dr. Alan Beck was formerly the director of the Bureau of Animal Affairs in New York, where he helped draft that city's "pooper scooper" law. A similar was recently passed in Philadelphia. Beck currently works at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary School where he heads the Center for Interaction of Animals and Society. He has researched pet/owner relationships and stray dogs and their effect on people, including the homeless. He joins the show to discuss the new law and human-animal relationships.

Grace Paley is a short story writer who has had several volumes of her work published. Paley is also known as a feminist and peace activist. She is in Philadelphia to guest lecture at Temple University. She joins the show to discuss her work.

Tepilit Ole Saitoti is a Maasai warrior and conservationist who was the subject of the film "Man of Serengetti." After the film, the Kenyan earned a degree in creative writing in the U. S. He joins the show to discuss his new book of photography with Carol Beckwith, "Maasai."

Helen Caldicott is a pediatrician and the president of Physicians for Social Responsibility. The Australian is a leading figure in the fight against nuclear war and the nuclear arms race. The activist joins the show to discuss the dangers of nuclear weapons here and abroad, and to answer listener calls.